Threads

Chapter Eight

     “Whatever you have to do,” panted the man.

Alice grabbed one of his feet and it shook in her hand, trying to continue its dance routine.  She could easily see which magic was out of place - the threads were the wrong color, and badly woven. She grabbed the first thread and pulled. It resisted her at first, sticking to the original spell like Velcro, until she yanked harder, pushing her will out towards it. Come off!

     It pulled away from the rest of the threads and she sent it drifting up towards the ceiling where it joined the other magic. She repeated the process until all the foreign threads were gone, and then moved onto the next foot. Alice stood.

 “Now all you should have to do is say ‘stop’.”

     “Stop!” the man cried. His feet suddenly slid out from under him and he crashed to the ground.

Alice stifled a laugh, “Are you okay?”

The man groaned. “Finally. My legs are so tired.”

     Gabriel was covering his mouth with one hand, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.  The man stood up on shaky legs and brushed himself off, attempting to look dignified.

     “Thank you,” he said, sheepishly.

     “Out of curiosity, what were you trying to make them do?” Alice asked.

     “I wanted to moonwalk.” The man checked to see that nobody was laughing at him. “I’ve always wanted to moonwalk.”

She smiled. “Take the shoes off for a minute.”

     The man stepped out of them and Alice visualised the spell she wanted, pulling down several threads and weaving them together until they felt right. She did this twice, and drifted the pattern over the shoes, watching with satisfaction as the two patterns melted into one another.

“There.”

     The man stared at her with wide eyes. “They moonwalk now?”

     “They should.”

     The man put the shoes back on. “Thank you so much.”

     “You’re welcome - next time you’d like a product modified, ask me first.” Alice gave him a smile, and was startled when the skinny man reached out and clasped her hand. “My name is Willy  - you’ve saved my feet and made my day. I will tell everyone of your greatness.”

     Alice and Gabriel watched as Willy walked out of the shop.  As soon as the door closed behind him, Gabriel started to howl with laughter, and Alice put a hand over her mouth, trying not to join him, but it was impossible to keep a straight face.  Gabriel sighed and wiped a tear from his eye.

     At four o’clock Alice told Gabriel he could go while she closed the shop.

     “Are you sure you don’t want help?”

     “I’ll be fine. You go relax.”

     Gabriel made a low, sweeping bow. “Thank you, miss. I will tell everyone of your greatness.”

     Alice laughed and made shooing motions at him. “Go on.”

     She was still chuckling as his footsteps sounded on the stairs, and, turning back to the shop front, she looked out at the market. The sky was just starting to take on a darker hue and the stall lights were coming on. 

     “Such a pretty place,” Alice murmured. She turned to Shakra lounging in the other room and called, “Come up for a late dinner with me?”